Paige VanZant: Perseverance and Personality Paying Off

She impressed the mixed martial arts world after her dominating victory over veteran and Muay Thai fighter Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig at the April 18 UFC on FOX event. VanZant controlled Herrig for all three rounds to get the decision win – one judge even scored the fight 30-26, a rarity for UFC bouts.

One person in particular who praised VanZant was UFC President Dana White. In a post-fight interview, White talked about 12 Gauge’s victory, her performance during the fight and the “it” factor she has.

“Everybody in my dressing room wanted to meet Paige VanZant.”

White also likened VanZant’s rise to Irish superstar Conor McGregor, who will fight Jose Aldo for the featherweight title in July. VanZant came into the UFC as a dark horse. “The Ultimate Fighter 20” was on the air and most fans and critics seemed to be focused on the 16 strawweights on the show rather than the fighter who couldn’t get into the “TUF” house because she was too young. Then VanZant had a three-round war with Kailin Curran and people took notice.

Like McGregor, VanZant’s personality started showing and she began to get opportunities, one being a solo sponsorship with Reebok, much to chagrin of fans and fighters who felt they deserved to have a big sponsor like Reebok. The UFC later announced VanZant would face Herrig and 12 Gauge’s pre-fight comments irked some folks. In the weeks leading up to the fight, Herrig said she was not impressed with VanZant’s fighting skills and said she wasn’t a “threat anywhere.”

VanZant proved Herrig – who is one of the toughest fighters in the 115-pound division – and other critics wrong. The 21-year-old made some fundamental mistakes during the fight – something White acknowledged – but she was able to prevent the Lil’ Bulldog from capitalizing on them.

VanZant’s win resulted in a lot of critics keeping quiet while others predicted that they knew 12 Gauge would win. I’m not surprised to see the love for VanZant. She is good-looking and she’s not afraid to speak her mind and that draws in people.

Some purists prefer the type of fighters who are humble and prefer to do their speaking in the cage, but many fans are attached to the athletes who are themselves, will go out of their way to promote their fight and do a little trash talking on camera and social media. This also brings in potential sponsorship opportunities.

As for her work inside of the cage, VanZant has a long career ahead of her. If she can improve on the mistakes she made in the Herrig fight and sharpen her skills, she’ll be a top 10 fighter for years to come.

Dana White gives an update on the lightweight title picture

When it comes to the lightweight division there is always a lot of talk with very little clarification. But now it seems Dana White has had enough of waiting for champion Conor McGregor and plans to move on in his absence.

“The Notorious” Conor McGregor won the UFC lightweight title back in November 2016 at UFC 205 where he became the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously, however, he has not competed in MMA since.

Speaking on Sunday night’s after UFC Fight Night St. Louis UFC President Dana White said “Conor has said he is thinking about coming back in September if he comes back in September that’s almost two years, that can’t happen. It’s not fair to everybody else. Love Conor, respect Conor, love everything he’s done for this company, everybody knows that I say it all the time. The belt would have to move on.”

White also spoke about the two men that would fight for the lightweight belt saying “You do Khabib versus Tony, we’re working on that fight now and if and when Conor comes back he would get the first crack at the title.”

Then when presenter Karyn Bryant pushed for clarification and asked: “So you’re saying that Conor could possibly be stripped of his title?” Dana responded without hesitation “absolutely”.

"Conor has said he's thinking about coming back in September. If he comes back in September, that's almost two years…that can't happen." — @danawhite

The news will excite UFC fans across the globe who have been clamoring for the Ferguson vs Khabib matchup which they have been denied on three separate occasions. No date was confirmed for the potential matchup but rumors have been circulating that the UFC is targeting UFC 223 in April.

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The top end of the UFC’s lightweight division is thriving. Dustin Poirer defeated former division champion Anthony Pettis, in dominant fashion. Tony Ferguson won the lightweight division’s interim title by carving Kevin Lee from his back. Safe to say, no everyday person would ever want to see Khabib Nurmagomedov down a damp and dark alley. Don’t forget, the gutsy performance of Eddie Alvarez stealing Justin Gaethje’s undefeated record away. The division is thriving like gas attempting to escape a shaken champagne bottle.

On Friday, UFC President, Dana White, spoke to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, about a number of topics. One, which came up fairly quickly; Conor McGregor and his stranglehold on the lightweight belt. The pair began talking about recent performances inside the octagon when the illustrious name of, Khabib Nurmagomedov, came up. White claimed, “Conor always finds a way to win. When he hits you, you go…”. Then speaking of the potential bout between Nurmagomedov and McGregor, “I love that matchup but, Tony Ferguson is the interim champion. Conor and I haven’t really figured out when he’s coming back and what’s going on…”. He continued, “I don’t think Conor wants to fight until August, but if he waits until August or September, that’s around two years since the belt has been defended and that can’t happen”.

Iole followed up by asking, due to circumstances, does McGregor owe it to the sport to defend his title? The UFC president agreed, “And to the other fighters. Not only to the sport but, to the other fighters. This is a game of time… when you’re a professional athlete, time is your enemy and we can’t let this thing go on forever and not give other guys the opportunity. Tony Ferguson has been around for a long time and has earned his dues, Khabib has earned his dues… Conor has done very well, he’s made a lot of money, and if he decides that he doesn’t want to fight again for another however long that’s up to him… but, the belt has to move on… we gotta figure some stuff out here in the next couple months”.

It only makes sense that the UFC wants progression in the one-hundred and fifty-five lb. division. Even without their massive revenue generator, the division must move on. Athletes like Nurmagomedov may be relatively unknown outside the MMA community in the United States but, his official Instagram page holds 3.2 million followers. While Tony Ferguson may not hold online notoriety, he does have an exciting style. A style that could win a good many of fans, the more exposure he receives.

For White, one of these two men must fight for the division’s championship title. When asked about what is next, he stated, “As long as Conor is willing to fight by March, we could do Khabib versus Tony and then the winner fights Conor… or Conor doesn’t wanna fight and wants to sit out till next fall. Then we would have to make Khabib vs. Tony for the title”.

Time can be the only truth serum in this particular situation. The UFC brass has spoken of forcing McGregor to vacate his lightweight title for some time. Yet, nothing has happened. On the other hand, it would be more than surprising to see the division’s belt sit on the shelf for another year. Considering it all, including the status of contenders and depth of the division, the bottleneck created by one man never ceases to amaze.

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Conor McGregor reacts to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s win at UFC 219

On Saturday night the world watched as Khabib Nurmagomedov dismantled the striking expert Edson Barboza at UFC 219. The reactions were filled with praise for the undefeated Russian fighter. Media members and fans alike were calling Nurmagomedov one of the best lightweights in the world, but there is one man the world was waiting to hear from, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. McGregor was silent following the fight between Nurmagomedov and Barboza, that is until Monday morning when he took to Twitter to state his opinion about the Number one contender.

That Dagestani was dog shit the other night you's are all nuts. Game full of sloppy bums asking to be slept. Pay me my worth and Kings back.

“Truly truly truly get on your fucking knees and beg me,” McGregor wrote on Twitter. “Otherwise, I don’t give a bollox. My whiskey is out this year and that’s Diddy bread.” The whiskey that McGregor is referring to is his very own grand that he announced would be coming out following his loss to Floyd Mayweather this past August.

Rumors about McGregor’s return have ranged from him retiring from fighting to live a life of wealth with his family, to expect his return to the UFC this summer. No one really knows if McGregor will ever defend his UFC lightweight belt, but if he is to do so UFC President Dana White has said that it will be against interim champion Tony Ferguson.

Ferguson was also seeking a fight with Nurmagomedov prior to winning the interim belt against Kevin Lee. It is entirely possible that we will see these two battle for the interim title in the octagon before we see the return of Conor McGregor. Of course, these days there are no guarantees in regards to title contention, McGregor and his camp have publically stated that they would like to face Nurmagomedov in his home country of Russia.